Holidaymakers planning a summer getaway are being warned to be on their guard against the growing scourge of online scammers.

An estimated 100 people a week are being cheated out of thousands of pounds by fraudsters, leaving them with no holiday to show for it.

Particularly at risk are those who book a cottage or villa online through accommodation websites - fraudsters hack accounts and then encourage those who wish to rent properties to transfer money outside the systems of rental websites, such as AirBnB.

Alert: The apartment in Amsterdam that David Reed thought he was booking through Airbnb and the bogus booking details

Scammers are routinely hacking the genuine profiles of owners letting out properties on popular websites.

The crooks then intercept email communications, impersonate the owners and convince holidaymakers to pay them directly – and then vanish with their cash.

Other victims are lured by fake websites constructed with photos and descriptions stolen from genuine holiday websites.

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HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP

Since The Mail on Sunday revealed last month the plight of Charlotte Gilmour, who lost €5,000 in an Airbnb booking fraud, more victims have come forward with similar tales of financial woe.

All expressed their shock at the ease at which scammers are circumventing cyber security. They believe booking firms should tighten up their digital defences as a matter of urgency.

Claims for refunds for frauds committed against David Reed, a retired recreation manager from Monmouth, Wales, who was robbed of €1,000, and Guy and Lisa Jones from Solihull, who lost €3,000, were initially rejected by Airbnb.

Duped: David Reed booked an apartment in Amsterdam – and lost €1,000

But after this newspaper intervened, their cases are now being investigated afresh.

David, 73, hunted high and low on the popular website earlier this year to find a property that would accommodate ten people attending a family wedding in Amsterdam this August.

David, who is married to Barbara, says: ‘I spent some time trawling through everything from canal boats, sailing boats and farm houses to find a suitable property.

‘I ended up booking an apartment in the city centre sleeping 12.’

David clicked on the property link and followed the instructions that came from an authentic-looking Airbnb email address.

He received an invoice carrying Airbnb logos and as requested transferred €1,000 to secure the property. The money ended up in the Italian bank account of a fraudster who withdrew it before David could act.

It all seemed genuine and Lisa made the payment as requested

Guy and Lisa Jones (their surname has been changed) were tricked into paying €3,000 to hire a villa in Ibiza that did not exist for a ten-day holiday with friends last summer.

Public relations executive Guy, 56, says: ‘We booked the place for us and our son and another family with teenagers. It all seemed genuine and Lisa made the payment as requested.

The 100 holiday frauds a week

Figures from the City of London Police’s National Fraud Bureau show 4,910 cases of holiday fraud were reported in 2015 at a cost to victims of £11.5 million.

The organisation will publish new data next month.

As well as accommodation booking fraud, holidaymakers are routinely tricked by fake airline ticket booking websites, package holiday deals offering big discounts for large parties (such as those travelling to the Ashes cricket in Australia) and visa applications.

Report any scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk.

‘It was only when we visited our friends in Cardiff and tried to show them – unsuccessfully – the property details that we realised there was a problem.’

They reported the fraud to the police and tried to get their money back first from their bank and then from Airbnb. But they were rebuffed.

Both families complain that Airbnb was too quick to blame them for paying cash direct to the ‘owners’ rather than through the website’s secure payment system, even though the scammers had used the firm’s own website to perpetrate the fraud.

The crooks’ convincing methods, including Airbnb-styled emails and letterheads, gave them no reason to be suspicious.

Guy says: ‘Basically, Airbnb’s customer service said “tough” and it was our fault. But we argue its website is the vehicle of the fraud.’

David agrees: ‘Scammers have compromised its website and I have paid the price for the company’s negligence.’

Don't pay cash direct to owners - how to avoid holiday fraudsters

- Carry out extra checks when booking a property online. Do an internet search of the property and its owner. Make contact by phone. This may not be foolproof but it can help to expose a conman.

- Check for online reviews. If there are none, be suspicious.

- Watch out for bogus websites. Scammers pinch photos and property details from legitimate websites and then change a few details to prevent detection. Nick Cooper, of long-established villa booking company Villa Plus, campaigns to close down such operations. His latest target is ‘Greek Villa Escapes’, which, among others, advertises Villa Stacey in Corfu. This is actually Villa Mara, a property rented through Villa Plus.

Use reverse image search software to check if properties are authentic. Also, keep an eye on sly changes to genuine email addresses, for example .co.uk to .co.com.

- Where possible, pay by credit card or debit card as you may get your money back if things go wrong. Paying a deposits with a credit card can mean you are covered under Section 75 rules. A bank-to-bank transfer offers no protection.

- Don't pay cash direct to owners. Good holiday lettings sites offer protection against fraud, but only if you pay using their systems. This can be more expensive but not doing it can leave you exposed.

- Book package holidays through members of trade bodies such as the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) or those which offer protection under the Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL). Verify membership at abta.com and caa.co.uk.

- Renew or replace a passport for £72.50 at the official website gov.uk or £82.25 if you use the Post Office’s Passport Check and Send service. Use a copycat website and it will cost an extra £25 at least.

- Shun websites charging over the odds for an ESTA – the travel visa for the US. It costs just $14 though the US Department of Homeland Security website at esta.cbp.dhs.gov.

How Airbnb is stepping up security

Airbnb has been dogged with security problems that have caused financial loss not only to those who book properties via the website but those who rent them out.

Many ‘hosts’ have had their accounts hijacked, with scammers taking over accounts not only to defraud guests but to fraudulently rent and then burgle properties.

San Francisco-based Airbnb has three million listings and says 150 million guests have used its service that connects travellers with private property owners – mostly without incident.

Its website security is based on a ‘machine learning model’ using software designed to predict fraudulent activity. Alarms are triggered when a login is from an unexpected country, computer or phone or if there is a surge in logins from a particular address. Extra checks will then be made.

Earlier this month, Airbnb admitted that even these precautions may not be adequate and that there have been ‘incidents where hosts and guests have suffered’.

The company has stepped up security, including demanding additional verification if a customer logs in from a device other than the one used to sign up with the service. Customers will also be alerted by text of any account alterations.

Airbnb advises hosts and guests to handle all payment and communication through the website’s own secure platform.

The company has agreed to re-investigate the cases of both David Reed and Guy Jones.

A spokesman added: ‘We are in contact with both guests and are providing them with our support.’

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